TUESDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Auto sales continue to fall off a cliff.
* Updating an earlier question, Tom Daschle has withdrawn from both HHS consideration and the White House office on healthcare reform.
* Eric Holder’s first day at the Justice Department went pretty well, and he was met by “thunderous” applause from DoJ employees. (They’ve been waiting for a real A.G. for quite a while now.)
* Is Obama making al Qaeda nervous? Yep.
* These idiots never learn: “Wells Fargo & Co., which received $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, is planning a series of corporate junkets to Las Vegas casinos this month.”
* Now Republicans are questioning whether mass-transit investment is “stimulative.” Is it me, or is the GOP getting worse as the process unfolds?
* The president met with Republican “centrists” today — all three of them — to discuss the stimulus package.
* Good point: “Not to second-guess the Republican strategy, but is Sen. John McCain really the best spokesman for the No On Stimulus campaign? Didn’t the America people deliver him a whopping precisely because of all issues, they didn’t trust his instincts on the economy?”
* Daschle is done, but the prospects for healthcare reform live on.
* William Lynn’s chances of becoming Deputy Defense Secretary got a real boost yesterday.
* The coverage of the stimulus debate on “Morning Joe” has been hopelessly misguided.
* Even now, House Republicans can’t bring themselves to tell the truth about CBO analyses of the recovery package.
* I was sorry to learn that Rachel Maddow is dropping her Air America Radio show, due to time constraints. She will, however, provide content for an hour-long morning program of AAR. (I’m disappointed, not just because I was an occasional guest, but because it’s been a really great show.)
* If you happened to miss Hilzoy’s “Ask Dr. Rendition!” post from last night, go back and read it. It’s important (and funny).
* The right is apparently still worked up about the residency status of the president’s half-aunt.
* Bill Richardson’s legal issues appear to be getting more serious.
* And finally, Obama has nominated Tammy Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Good call.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
